人工智能时代新闻伦理研究重点及其趋向

Research Trends of Journalism Ethics in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

人工智能通过算法和大数据分析已经深刻改变了人类的新闻传播行为,在此背景下的新闻伦理研究处于哲学、法学和新闻传播学的交叉研究区域,其中广义层次的研究聚焦人工智能及其伦理研究,狭义层次的研究聚焦人工智能时代的新闻伦理本体。人工智能及其伦理研究的核心是技术的道德主体地位辨析,而对此问题的回答则呈现极化趋势。分布式道德模型区分了道德问责和道德责任,提供了解决这一哲学难题的新思路。人工智能时代的新闻伦理研究意在回应新技术背景下的新闻实践问题,信息茧房效应、后真相、算法偏见和被遗忘权引发学界广泛的讨论。问题的实质是新媒体技术与社会伦理期待的冲突。其后的研究需要更为细腻的技术问题逻辑描述,更具理论导向的新闻伦理本体研究和更高质量的跨学科研究,从而形成来自人文社科的话语合力。

Artificial Intelligence,with its application of algorithm and big data analysis,has uniquely altered human behaviors in journalism and communication.Embedded in autonomous intelligent systems,operations like robotic writing,algorithmic targeting,information filtering and social media bots have exerted a deep influence on journalism,communication and public opinions.The research on the ethics of journalism under the backdrop of AI is currently an overlapping field between Philosophy,Law and Journalism studies.Related researches have focused on AI and the ethics of AI at the macro level,and its ethical consequences on the ontology of journalism ethics in the AI age at the micro level.There are extensive appearances of research outcomes on AI and its ethical consequences in the writings of Technical Ethics,Algorithm Ethics of and Engineer Ethics.Among them,critical understanding on the moral subject status of technology is one of the shared concerns.Despite polarized answers,a transition system of morality put forward by Floridi & Sanders (2004) distinguished accountability from responsibility in morality,essentially placing mind-less morality for consideration.In this way,aphilosophical conundrum is turned into observables in reality.Studies on the ethics of journalism in the AI age aim towards addressing issues around news practices in the face of the emerging new technologies.With the monopoly of news edit and news dissemination being undermined by new technologies,″information cocoons″,″post-truth″,″algorithmic prejudice″ and ″right to be forgotten″ triggered off numerous discussions.The long cherished ethical traditions of journalism,namely journalistic objectivity and functions of the journalists,are greatly challenged.Therefore,the crux of the issue lies in the conflicts between new media technologies and the expectations on social ethics.Through clarifying who are the responsible bodies of journalism ethics and through examining the dialectical relations between the structure and the core of journalism ethics,we might be able to provide further suggestions to the regulations of media industry and articulate the footing on which researches in this field are to be conducted.In summary,the research trends of journalism ethics in the AI age might be on three strands.Firstly,a finer unpicking on the logic of technological problems can be effective on opening the black box,revealing how AI technologies change the way a message is delivered in the society and what the consequences of its ethics are and specifying the growing curve of AI and the window period for human intervention in between.Secondly,studies on journalism ethics need to wheel slightly away from a much practice-oriented and resolution-oriented model and move towards the ethics of communication for expanding more communicative possibilities with Philosophy of Science,Computer Ethics,and Engineer Ethics.Last but not the least,the quality of inter-disciplinary researches should be enhanced for forming a balancing power from humanities and social sciences under the discourse systems of technological advance and economic development.In the AI age,the striking progress of media technologies makes up a media-omnipresent society.Automatic systems penetrate into the production,communication and interaction of news.Unlike the mere focus of traditional ethics of journalism on the content of news,journalism ethics in the AI age encompasses elements like data and coding in its ethical structure.However,the main principles of journalism ethics such as truthfulness,objectivity and minimize harm remain relevant.For adherence to these principles in the new age,it involves collaboration and coordination from non-conventional units beyond the scope of the news media.